SAN DIEGO–A person at California State University San Marcos is being treated for tuberculosis and may have exposed others, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency reported today.
The health agency is working closely with university officials to notify people who were possibly exposed to TB. The period of potential exposure is from Aug. 25 to Oct. 29. Free testing for students and staff who may have been exposed will take place the week of Nov. 17 at the CSUSM Student Health and Counseling Services located at 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road in San Marcos.
“Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss,” says Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “Most people who are exposed to TB do not develop the disease, but when it does occur, it can be treated and cured with medication; that’s why it’s important to identify those who have been exposed.”
TB in not uncommon in the San Diego region but the number of cases has been decreasing in recent years. To date, 160 cases have been reported in 2014. In 2013, 206 cases were reported in the county, the lowest number since local TB cases peaked at 469 in 1993. There were 234 cases in 2012.
For more information on this potential exposure, call the County TB Control Program at (619) 692-8621.
